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The Newark, N.J., school district's application for a $30 million Race to the Top grant, with the intention of using the funds for laptops, resources for teachers and additional support for students, has failed to win support of the Newark Teachers Union. Union President Joe Del Grosso said the teachers rejected the application because it included wasteful spending. Cami Anderson, superintendent of the state-controlled Newark School District, has asked the federal government to use the union's approval from a prior year for the new application.

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Escondido Union School District in California has a history of low standardized test scores but also a reputation for employing top teachers -- with 10 Teachers of the Year coming from the district since 1977. "Some of the best teaching and the greatest gains are made in classrooms with the biggest opportunity gaps," said Jennifer Walters, superintendent of Escondido, where more than half of the students are English-language learners.

Teachers should strive to create a learning environment that allows students to explore, think and create -- whether or not teachers are present, writes Kevin D. Washburn, author and executive director of Clerestory Learning. In this blog post, he writes that components of an optimal learning environment include, among other things, objects that capture students' interest in exploring critical concepts such as the Rubik's Cube and 3D geometry, and materials that let students direct how they process information.

The Newark, N.J., Teachers Union was expected to vote today on a contract that would include merit pay, rather than guaranteed pay raises. However, that vote has been delayed because of Hurricane Sandy, which has closed schools today. If the contract is approved, Newark would become the first school district in New Jersey to participate in the state's new four-tiered, teacher-evaluation system.

Education officials in New Jersey are seeking the support of school districts and teachers unions for their second-round bid for Race to the Top grants. Officials last week pledged a minimum of $100,000 to districts that agree to sign on if the state wins a grant, and they have extended the deadline for endorsements until Thursday. The state's largest teachers union has yet to endorse the application, which includes a merit-pay provision for teachers.

Some Florida teachers are fearful of the state's plans to adopt merit pay for teachers based in part on test scores. Florida officials made teacher merit pay a component of the state's application for federal Race to the Top money, aiming to boost student achievement by rewarding the most effective teachers and weeding out the weak ones. The state's largest teachers union opposes the state's merit-pay plan and urged local unions to withhold their support as well.